Businesses use poster to join fight against human trafficking

You most likely didn’t know it, but Friday was dedicated to saving people from human trafficking. Though the day was observed as Human Trafficking Awareness Day, the entire month of January is actually dedicated to human trafficking awareness.

January is also Respect Life Month in the Pro-Life community. Focusing on valuing all life from the unborn to the aged and saving young women from sex trafficking.

“Whatever is alive is going to do whatever it has to to remain alive, and that’s just the facts,” said Kristy Childs, founder of Veronica’s Voice.

That’s the message advocates say the community must understand about people who have been sex trafficked or exploited.

“We have an opportunity to create a collaborative path out for survivors, because many of the individuals who are doing what we might call ‘sex work’ are lacking opportunity, the education to seek other types of work,” Veronica’s Voice Executive Director Lucy Bloom said.

In 2018, Missouri approved House Bill 1246 to combat the scourge of human trafficking by requiring the placement of posters containing resources to assist human trafficking victims in many public buildings throughout the state of Missouri. The bill tells certain businesses to put up an anti-sex trafficking posterbefore March 1. The poster lists the national hotline numberand a number to text for anyone who is being trafficked or who has witnessed someone being trafficked.

If you would like to print the poster out at your business, click here to download a pdf.

According to the law, the Missouri Stop Human Trafficking poster should be displayed in a conspicuous place in or near the bathrooms or near the entrance of each of the following establishments:

Hotels, motels, or other establishments that have been cited as a public nuisance for prostitution under Section 567.080 RSMo;

Strip clubs or other sexually oriented businesses;

Airports;

Train stations that serve passengers;

Emergency rooms within general acute care hospitals;

Urgent care centers;

Privately operated job recruitment centers;

Businesses or establishments that offer massage or body work services for compensation;

If a business doesn’t comply, it will get a written warning and could receive further violations. The Missouri State Highway Patrol will enforce this law.

“We really have to come together and give a broader voice. So I’m hoping that businesses will see this story and they will know there’s a poster they can download,” Bloom said.

The few businesses 41 Action News visited that fall under one of the categories did not have the posters up and were not aware of the initiative.

Veronica’s Voice officials said awareness and understanding about commercially sexualized exploitation is increasing, but people aren’t doing enough to help victims, predominantly women, live a supported life going forward.

“We just need to stop criminalizing this population. That would be the biggest and best step we could take,” Childs said.

Childs said since 2000, she’s noticed a lot of women who come to her for help are also developmentally disabled.

“And these women, a lot of them, were court-ordered to our program and I’m thinking, one, I don’t think we should criminalize prostituted individuals in the first place. But the fact that we’re criminalizing people who are operating not on a normal functioning level was just eye-opening but devastating to me, because in my years I never saw that,” Childs said.

Childs herself survived 26 years as a victim of sex trafficking.

Most women Veronica’s Voice helps are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

However, women and youth who have cognitive disabilities are preyed on more. From January 2015 to December 2017, the National Human Trafficking Hotline took calls from 2,116 potential victims who had a health concern or disability immediately before being sex trafficked.

Childs and Bloom said predators will “recruit” outside day centers for developmentally disabled people or rehab centers because they know those people are more vulnerable.

Upcoming Events

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October 26 (Friday) - March 10 (Sunday)

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Nelson-Atkins

4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO

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Napoleon: Power and Splendor marks the first exploration of the majesty and the artistic, political and ideological significance of Napoleon’s imperial court from Napoleon’s self-appointment as First Consul in 1799

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Napoleon: Power and Splendor marks the first exploration of the majesty and the artistic, political and ideological significance of Napoleon’s imperial court from Napoleon’s self-appointment as First Consul in 1799 to his abdication in 1814. The Imperial Household was a key institution during Napoleon’s reign. It was responsible for the daily lives of the Imperial family and the day-to-day existence of former general Bonaparte, who became Emperor Napoleon.

The exhibition aims to re-create the ambiance and capture the spirit that prevailed in the French court during the Empire. A selection of works, most of which have never before been exhibited in North America, will reveal the power and splendor of the Imperial Household and its role in fashioning a monarchic identity for the new emperor, his family and loyal entourage.

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If you are new to homeschooling, a well-seasoned veteran, or still on the fence trying to decide what direction is best for your family, we would love to have you

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If you are new to homeschooling, a well-seasoned veteran, or still on the fence trying to decide what direction is best for your family, we would love to have you join us for an information meeting. We have programs available starting at four years of age through high school. At the information meeting, we will be sharing with you about the Christian, classical, and community model that is Classical Conversations. There will be plenty of time for you to ask any questions you might have and also an opportunity to look through some of the curricula we use. Please come join us no matter your level of interest. We would love the opportunity to share with you what has been such a great blessing to our own families. Please RSVP via through the website under the events tab. It is okay to RSVP even if it’s an hour before the meeting. When you RSVP we’ll give you directions on where to enter the building. See you soon!

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(Tuesday) 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

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Deerbrook Covenant Church

200 NE Tudor Road, Lee's Summit, MO 64086

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Fear-Not is a Christ-Centered Support Group for Anxiety and Depression.
We are using material based on the Christian 12 Steps; Serenity Prayer also Anxiety Centre
http://www.anxietycentre.com/
also "The Anxiety/Phobia Workbook" by Edmund Bourne.

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Fear-Not is a Christ-Centered Support Group for Anxiety and Depression.
We are using material based on the Christian 12 Steps; Serenity Prayer also Anxiety Centre

http://www.anxietycentre.com/

also “The Anxiety/Phobia Workbook” by Edmund Bourne. (probably find at the library or on sale online) We have a Yahoo Group (link below) you can join…there is a lot of information in the folders on stress and anxiety… Group home page:

Just stay calm….you are not losing your mind…you are just under a lot of stress….so no big surprise that you are having an emotional reaction that seems very strong….your body is sending you a message “I am on overload”…warning, warning be wise and heed the warning. I was in the deepest miry pit imaginable…and if the Lord can bring me out, I know He can also help others who are struggling.

We meet on Tuesdays from 7-8:30 pm each week. Email fear-not@att.net for more information.

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Amidst a culture shifting like the tide, it is imperative that students are ready to defend “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

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Amidst a culture shifting like the tide, it is imperative that students are ready to defend “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). So mark your calendars for Ready, a youth conference held in Kansas City, MO on January 25-26, 2019. This conference features the following guest speakers: Sam Bierig, Brian Davis, Rechab Gray, Owen Strachan, and Jared C. Wilson.

An additional concert with nobigdyl. will be held on January 25. Concert tickets are included in conference registration or can be purchased separately.

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nobigdyl. is an independent hip-hop artist from Nashville, TN. He released his debut album Canopy, which reached #7 on iTunes Hip-Hop Charts, in February 2017. The album was met with

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nobigdyl. is an independent hip-hop artist from Nashville, TN. He released his debut album Canopy, which reached #7 on iTunes Hip-Hop Charts, in February 2017. The album was met with high praise, with the debut single Purple Dinosaur’s video being featured this summer in Journey’s stores across the U.S. He has since released a stand-alone single, Shakira, with Marty of Social Club, whose video has garnered 100,000 views in the first month. As the founding member of indie tribe., a collective of artists independent of mainstream ideals, he seeks to light up the darkness through music. $20 concert only.

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Come for a quiet, relaxing day of encouragement in the middle of the school year! These special retreats are open for all homeschool moms (or those interested in homeschooling). Light

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Come for a quiet, relaxing day of encouragement in the middle of the school year! These special retreats are open for all homeschool moms (or those interested in homeschooling). Light breakfast refreshments, hot drinks, and a beautiful, delicious catered lunch will indulge you as you glean wisdom from God’s word through speaker sessions and visiting with other homeschool moms. The Midwest Parent Educators (MPE) homeschool organization is hosting the annual Women’s Encouragement Day

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Shen Yun invites you to travel back to the magical world of ancient China. Experience a lost culture through the breathtaking art of classical Chinese dance, and see legends

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Shen Yun invites you to travel back to the magical world of ancient China. Experience a lost culture through the breathtaking art of classical Chinese dance, and see legends come to life. Shen Yun pushes the boundaries of the performing arts to make this possible, with a unique blend of colorful costuming, high-tech backdrops, and live orchestra. Be prepared for a theater experience like no other.

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Join Jackson County Historical Society on Holocaust Remembrance Day for a screening of Big Sonia.
Standing tall at 4’8″, Sonia is one of the last remaining Holocaust survivors in Kansas City

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Join Jackson County Historical Society on Holocaust Remembrance Day for a screening of Big Sonia.

Standing tall at 4’8″, Sonia is one of the last remaining Holocaust survivors in Kansas City and one of the only survivors there who speaks publicly about her wartime experience. Sonia’s enormous personality and fragile frame mask the horrors she endured. At 15 she watched her mother disappear behind gas chamber doors. Sonia’s teenage years were a blur of concentration camps and death marches. On liberation day, she was accidentally shot through the chest, yet again miraculously survived. Sonia is the ultimate survivor, a bridge between cultures and generations. Her story must never be forgotten.